Welcome to the Matrix
by Generation X-er
Summary: The Powerpuffs must stop Mojo and the RRBs from turning Townsville into their own personal arcade


Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to these characters, and Craig McCracken does. Portions of this story are an intentional parody of the film The Matrix"  
  
PPG/RRB fanfic: Welcome to the Matrix  
  
  
The City of Townsville.....ahhhhhh, with spacious city park, the Townsville mall, the fine tourist attaractions, historic sites, and its happy populace of upstanding citizens. And home of the Townsvulle bank, which is even now being assaulted by evil genius Mojo Jojo and the Rowdyruff Boys....What!?! Oh, no! Where are the Girls?  
Streaking in the direction of the Townsville Bank, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup were off to save the day. They had just received an emergency call from the Mayor that Mojo and his Boys were attacking the bank.   
"What will we do, now that the Rowdyruff Boys are back?" Bubbles was asking. "Do you think we can take all of them?"  
"Why not?" sneered Buttercup. "We took care of those Boys before, and we'll do it again!"  
"That's right, Bubbles." Answered Blossom. "Not to worry! Remember, one kiss and those Boys are history!"  
They swooped down on the Townsville Bank, and landed through a gaping hole Mojo had blown in the side of the building. Again, Mojo was armed with a vast steel robot wielding gigantic steel pincer claws. He was laughing maniacally. The three Rowdyruff Boys were gleefully smashing the place up. The Girls saw Boomer and Butch blasting through the steel vault with their eye-beams.   
"Let's get 'em" announced Buttercup. She and Bubbles zoomed straight for the two boys, aiming vicious punches at each of them. Butch and Boomer were knocked back against the wall, stunned. Then Brick swooped down and barreled into Bubbles and Buttercup, double-punching them, and sending the girls sliding across the linoleum floor. Brick started to chortle evilly, but just then Blossom smashed her fist into him sending him careening across the room to smack into the concrete.   
The three Girls landed on the floor, prepared to finish the battle. The three Rowdyruffs were back on their feet, fuming, clearly prepared to dish out their worst.   
"Finish them!" commanded Mojo. "Remember, this time I have made you invulnerable to the kisses of these three Powerpuff pests! There is no way they can defeat you now! Muahahahahahaaaa!"  
"Huh!?!" asked the Powerpuffs in unison.   
"That's right!" announced Brick. "Come on, just try to blow us up!"  
"You gotta be kidding!" said Blossom. "We know Mojo didn't bring you guys back! Princess Morbucks did! And she did not make you so you wouldn't blow up! We defeated you guys before, and we'll do it again!"  
"Then what are you waiting for!" smirked Brick. "Not turning chicken on us are you?"   
"Hah!" exclaimed Buttercup. "Pucker up, Rowdyruff brats! 'Cause here it comes!"  
The three Girls zoomed toward each of their Rowdyruff counterparts, prepared to deliver the lethal kiss that would explode them into their basic components. But when each Girl was within a foot of her intended victim, something extraordinary happened. Each Rowdyruff Boy swung wildly. Their punches sliced through empty air, but each Girl was knocked across the room to splat against the far wall, as though she had been socked. The RRBs collapsed into fiendish laughter.   
Stunned, the Girls got to their feet. "Whoa!" said Blossom. "What happened? I'd swear they didn't touch us! But-"  
"It feels like I've been socked!" exclaimed Bubbles.  
"Yeah, me too!" complained Buttercup. "But that's impossible...."  
"Oh, yeah?" sneered Boomer. "Come and try again, sissies!"  
"We're on it!" yelled Buttercup, as the three of them streaked toward their pint-sized adversaries. But once again, they were knocked clean across the room when they came within a foot of their foes.   
"Hahahahahhaaaaa!" chortled Mojo. "You see, we have you defeated, Powerpuff Girls! And now I will tell you that our attacking the Townsville Bank was a clever ruse to lure you three brats here, so that we could defeat you! Have at them Boys!"  
The Powerpuff had regained their feet, but were still dizzy when all three of the RRBs came flying at them. Each Boy slammed into his Powerpuff counterpart, this time knocking her with such force that she blacked out.   
All three of the Girls lay unconscious on the linoleum floor. "Whoa, dude!" exclaimed Boomer. "Maybe we overdid it!"  
"Nah! They deserved it, for what they did to us!" sneered Butch. "Remember? And besides, you heard Pops!"  
"Muahahahhahaaaa!" Mojo raved. "We have won! Excellent boys! Now, my pets-load them into the robot. We have special plans for them!"  
"Right, Pops!" said Brick. "Gimme a hand, guys!"   
They seized the Girls and loaded them into the luggage compartment of the gigantic Robot. Then the Boys gathered in themselves, and the contraption stomped off in the direction of Mojo's volcano.  
  
  
Bubbles wasn't sure exactly when it was that she regained consciousness. The blackness which had engulfed was so total and complete. But when she did, she realized straight off that she was in some sort of room with walls of blinding white. Light from an overhead source was glaring into her eyes. She was on her back on a table of some kind.  
"Huuuuh?" she started. Then she saw the three Rowdyruff Boys surrounding her, evil smirks on their faces. Or at least she thought they were the three Boys. All of them were wearing dark, slickly-cool shades over their enormous eyes. And they were wearing dark suits and ties over their customary red, blue and green outfits. What was this, some kind of wierd new fashion statement? But the thing that really scared her was that her sisters were no where in sight.  
"Er...hi, guys." said Bubbles. "What's with those weird getups?"  
"Weird getups?" asked Brick, his voice laced with laid-back sarcasm. "What weird getups? I don't see any, do you guys? Wonder what she's talking about."  
"Geez, you got me!" said Boomer. All three of them laughed.  
"Knock it off, guys!" said Bubbles, getting angry. "Cool it, and tell me where my sisters are!"  
"Your sisters?" asked Brick, in a cool, smooth voice. "You mean those other two girls?"  
"Yes!" demanded Bubbles. "What have you and that monkey-brain done with them!"  
"Watch how you talk about Pops, sister!" snorted Butch "Or I'll-"  
"Hey, cool it, Bro" said Brick. "They'll all get what's coming to them, don't worry."  
"Oh, yeah." Chortled Butch "Right, bro."  
Their words sent shivers of ice through Bubbles, but still she refused to let them intimidate her.  
"Hey, sister." said Brick. "Know something? You're right, bro. She is our sister. Sort of. With Mojo creating us and them both."  
All three of them laughed riotously at this offhand remark.  
"Stop it!" yelled Bubbles. She was furious now. "Tell me what you've done with Blossom and Buttercup!"  
"All in good time, sis," said Brick. "But first, we've got a propostion to make."  
"A proposition?"  
"Welllll," said Brick. "To tell you the absolute truth, Bubbles, we brought you here to ask you for our help. Remember how you said we could all work together."  
"Well, yeah, but-"  
"We need you to help us take over the world. Let's face it. You girls really are pretty talented with those way-cool powers of yours. So how 'bout it? You gonna hook up with us or what?"  
This remark made Bubbles visibly bristle with rage. "Have you flipped? No way we'd ever join forces with you and that monkey-brained father of yours! Now let us go! Now!! And at least let us make a phone call to the Professor! He's probably worried sick about us by now!"  
"You disappointment me, Bubbles." said Brick. "Well, on second thought not really, because if you joined us, then we couldn't do this to you! Hold her, guys!"  
Butch and Boomer seized Bubbles and pinned her down. They pulled up the front of her outfit, so that her navel was exposed. Brick smirked wickedly and held out what looked like a small mechanical insect by its reed-like tail. It jointed, metallic legs thrashed wildly, as he suspended it directly over Bubbles' navel.   
"Knock it off, Brick!" protested Bubbles. "This isn't funny! I'm telling the Professor-"  
He released the robotic insectisoid. Jointed legs clacking, it began burrowing into Bubbles' bellybutton. Bubbles could merely stare down at the thing in helpless fright, shrieking in horror and disgust. The Rowdyruffs chuckled as the thing continued to burrow in, until at last the thrashing whip-like tail vanished inside of her.   
"Aaaaaah-ahhhhh-" breathed Bubbles. She could feel the thing thrash its way about inside of her, filling her with a rancid disgust like nothing she had known. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!"  
She screamed longer and louder then ever before in her life. She screamed until tear runneled down her cheeks. Her whole body changed uniformily to light blue, her signiture color. She continued to shriek, until she erupted into an explosion of sugar, spice and everything nice-  
---And snapped awake. It was as if what had just transpired was some unspeakable loathsome dream, as it all must have been. Where she was now, she couldn't begin to guess. Then she noticed that she was lying in a vat filled with some kind of light blue fluid, and that there were tubes and wires fastened all over her arms and legs. She heard a gurgling sound, and guessed that the profusion of tubes were channeling the chemical soup into her. It must be some weird type of nutrient fluid.   
Panic suddenly welled up inside her, and she began thrashing about, trying to free herself from the array of tubes. To her surprise, the tubes popped off her, offering scant resistance to her super strength, spraying artificially blue fluid as they did so. But then Bubbles saw with new horror that she was imprisoned within a clear plastic bubble. Using her vast store of strength she barreled up into it. The translucent bubble stretched, squeaking loudly, but refused to tear. Finally, Bubbles employed her hear vision, and at last she was free.   
Hovering in the air above the ruptured bubbles, she surveyed her surroundings with an escalating sense of alarm. With a gasp, she saw her sisters imprisoned in bubbles just like hers, along side of the one she had been in. They were still asleep, or unconscious. Blossom was being nurtured in a vat of fluid that was bright pink in color, while the fluid nurturing Buttercup was a light green. Bubbles wasted no time in freeing both of her sisters. She blasted and ripped her way through the plastic coverings and tore off the array of tubes. Both Girls returned to a groggy consciousness. When Bubbles had revived them, they flew up to hover beside her.  
"Wh-what happened?" asked Blossom, still groggy.  
"Yeah, " agreed Buttercup." Last I remember, we were fighting those boys, and getting our butts whipped, when-"  
"Look!" announced Bubbles. "Out there! Where-where are we?"   
The three of them gasped and looked out over the horizon. Stretching out before them  
To the very ends of the earth, were the corroded sletetons of vast buildings and skyscrapers, vast fields of rubble, a blasted landscape signifying the end of the world. And above, a turbulent heaven of roiling clouds, shutting out the sun forever.  
"Where....where are we?" asked Blossom, in a voice hushed with awe.   
"I...can't believe it, but...it...it's Townsville!" said Buttercup.  
"No!" cried Bubbles. "It can't be! It's not!"  
They stared in stunned silence for the longest time. "It is." Blossom said finally in a quiet voice.   
"But....but what happened?"  
"I don't know. But we have to find out. We have to put things right some way."  
"Is there a way?" asked Buttercup in broken voice.  
As they stared hopelessly out over the ruined landscape, they saw in mounting horror that the buildings on either side of them were not in decay like the others. The bizarre structures were lined with vertical rows of the translucent bubbles filled with liquid nutrient. And trapped within were all the myriad citizenry of Townsville! They even recognized some of them. There was Miss Keane, their teacher from Pokey Oaks Kindergarten. And there was Princess, clasping her mink Teddy bear, Mr. Blackwell. And another bubble held Fuzzy Lumpkins, clasping a pig, and a sheep under each pink-furred arm, respectfully, tubes running into each of the animals as well. And there was the Mayor and Miss Bellum, each in separate cubicles. Only one of the feeding tubes on Miss Bellum ran directly to a mask placed securely over her face.   
It was horrible, overwhelming....  
The Girls couldn't even speak for several moments. Then Blossom said quietly "Who...who could have done this?"  
"Good question!" answered a sneering voice. "We'll tell you who!"  
The Girls gasped and whirled around to see the three Rowdyruffs floating in the air before them. They were still in their shades and suits.   
"Huh!?!" the Girls gasped in unison.   
"Let me guess." Asked Brick. "Right about now you guys are all wondering what's going on? Well, let me and my Bros lay it on. Bet you're thinking it's year two thousand and one, right?"  
"It is, isn't it?" asked Blossom.  
"Yeah, I just checked my calender this morning." Said Bubbles.  
"Wrong, sissies!" sneered Boomer. "Try three-thousand one!"  
"What?!" exclaimed Buttercup. "Have you freaked?"  
"'Fraid not, Sis." Said Brick. "just take a look. Does this look like the Townsville you know?"  
The Girls looked back on the devastated landscape, and the weird-structures that speared soullessly at the roiling heavens. "Well.....I guess not." admitted Blossom. "But what happened? How did it get like this?"  
"And what did you creeps have to do with it!" demanded Buttercup.  
The Rowdyruffs snickered vilely. "Thought you wimps would never ask." Chortled Brick. "Let me see. Where should I begin?" he paused for effect. "Ohhhhh, yeah. I think I should start by letting you in on a big secret. You three have been out cold for the last century!"  
"No! He's lying!" cried Bubbles.  
"I don't think so," answered Blossom tearfully. "Just look at this place. Nothing like this could have happened overnight!"  
'Whoa! You Girls are catching on fast!" said Brick, his voice thick with sarcasm. "Remember the day Pops and us were trashing the city bank, and we knocked you out? I believe you sorta missed what happened after we whupped yer butts. What happened was, we put you in cryogenic hibernation for a long, long time. Well, maybe not that long. With you wimps out of the way, we took over Townsville in short order. You wouldn't believe how easy it was for Pops to take over the world with us helping him and all."  
"Yeah, it was a breeze," agreed Butch. "Nothing could stand in our way! Now we're ruling the roost, and we have everything we ever wanted!"  
"One question." Blossom demanded, feeling kind of sick. "Why is the sky like that?"  
"Oh, the sky?" said Butch. "That's easy. When Mojo made Townsville his power-base, lots of his weapons used solar power-you know, from the sun. So the world nations thought if they could shut off the sun, they could stop us-the dickweeds!"  
"But what about all the people?" asked Bubbles. "Why is everyone-"  
"I'm getting to that," Butch went on. "Mojo says that the human body generates enough heat to power his machines with."  
Bubbles gasped. "But if you've already taken over Townsville...and the world...why is everyone still like this! You have no right!"  
"Why is everyone still like this?" Brick grinned. "Well, frankly, sisters, that's part of the reason we woke you up in the first place. Follow us, and we'll show you."  
The RRBs turned and flew into the devastated city. The Girls, still perplexed, and dizzied with the recent incredible knowledge followed, all of them still in sort of a dazed trance. They past more building lined with hundreds upon hundreds of cubicles where the once-citizenry of Townsville lay imprisioned and nurtured, condemned to hopeless immortality. They zigzagged in, out and around the soaring structures, until they reached a massive complex in the center of what used to be downtown. The edifice was so vast that it might have contained a city within itself. But is was a forboding structure composed entirely of sleek black metal, and the Girls couldn't begin to guess what wonders or horrors lay inside. Already, they had seen quite enough.   
But the had to know. Wordlessly, they followed the RRBs into the mighty edifice through a door that slid open on one rounded tower, then closed off the world from them.   
The PPGS gaped in devastated awe. The place was awesomely vast, huge beyond their wildest comprehensions. They still couldn't begin to guess at the dimensions of the place, but they found themselves within a vast hall. The RRBs, still wearing those shades and smug smirks, landed in front of them.   
"Welcome to the Rowdyruff Boys' new pad!" Brick announced. "Cool, huh?"  
"What...what is this place?" murmured Buttercup absently, staring about in stunned awe.  
The enormous hall was lined on either side of them with banks and banks of flashing, blipping, video games. There were Segas, Sony Playstations, Gameboys and any other make of game one could possibly encounter in a 21st century video arcade, or electronic store, plus what looked to be many, many more that were uninvented in their own time, and unheard of. The game machines that lined the hall were arranged, one row on top of the others, extending the length of entire hall to be lost in the distance, further than the eye could penetrate. And the pulsing banks extended up as well, to the very ceiling which lay seemingly miles over their heads. Clearly, the place had been constructed keeping in mind the fact that the Boys could fly. The RRBs would be able to zoom about the hall to any level they chose, and play any game they wanted.   
"So you wanted to know why the good Townsville citizens are still asleep?" asked Brick. "Well now you know! Their body heat gives us all the power we need for our own personal arcade."  
"And if you like this, you'll love what's coming up next!" added Boomer. The Boys took off, zipping straight up past levels and levels of blipping arcade games. The Girls followed. When they had nearly reached the ceiling, a panel swooshed back and through it the boys vanished with the Girls in tow.   
Once more the Girls drew a collective breath. The hall they found themselves in was much like the first, only it was not so tall, and the games that lined its' vast length, flashing and pulsing like six-foot TV monitors were clearly not ordinary arcade games, like the ones they were all familiar with at the start of the 21st century.   
"Hey what gives here?" asked Buttercup.  
"This is the VR room." Brick explained with wicked mirth. "All of the games we have here run on virtual reality. There's one where it's like we're back 65 million years ago, and we get to beat up dinosaurs and stuff. And there's this one where we can battle it out as samurai warriors! That one's really cool. But the best is the one where we get to fight you guys."  
"No way!" exclaimed Bubbles. "You have Powerpuff Girls, in virtual realtity?"  
"Yup, no kidding. Well, it's kinda like the Powerpuff games they made back then. You know, like 'Paint Townsville Green", that had those trading cards with our pictures and all. Only this is way cooler. It's so real, it's just like old times. You'd never know the difference, honest. Except that we always win, of course. Hehheheh."  
"Oh, really?" asked Buttercup. "Well, now that we're here, you can fight us for real!"  
"Well, maybe." said Brick. "But I think me and my bros have a better idea."  
"What's that."   
"Now that we've made Townsville our own personal pad, why don't you try hanging with us."  
"What!?!" the Girls cried.  
"I mean, think about it. There's nothing you can do to save the world now. We won. You lost. End of story. Why don't just cut all this heroics crap?"  
"Yeah," Boomer put in. "Just admit it. We whupped yer butts, and took over the world just like that! So you might as well enjoy yourselves! Look at all the great stuff we got! And believe me, we haven't shown you the half of it, yet. It's been just us for a way long time now. And hey, since you really are kinda our sisters, we'll even forget you're girls, and let you chill with us! Whataya say?"  
"Forget it!" fumed Buttercup. "You really think the Powerpuff Girls would hang with you guys, after what you and that monkey-brain did to Townsville?"  
"She's right!" announced Blossom. "We'll never join forces with evil!"  
"Right!" said Bubbles. "You turn Townsville back the way it was! Now!"  
"'Fraid we can't do that, Sis." sneered Brick. "I'll tell what we can do, though. We'll take you up that offer of yours. You fight us in our VR game, and if you beat us, we'll think about changing Townsville back. Deal?"  
"Right on!" said Buttercup "Get ready for a major butt-whupping!"  
"Hold on, Buttercup!" said Bubbles. "How do we know they'll do what they say?"  
"I'm afraid we don't have much choice, Bubbles." Blossom sighed. "We have to save Townsville some way. The only thing to do now is to try to force them into changing the world back, it that's possible."  
"Is it?" asked Bubbles, trying hard not to cry.  
"Anything's possible. Look on the bright side. At least most of Townsville's citizens are still alive. And since they're alive, we can find a way to free them."  
"That's right!" said Buttercup. "We'll force those creeps to restore Townsville. We'll dish out all the pain we can until they do!"   
"You guys game yet?" Brick asked.  
"Bring it on!" shouted Buttercup.   
The Girls followed them into a square glass room behind one of the flashing screens that looked like monitors but clearly weren't. It was much like the VR training room at the Professor's house where they practiced their fighting skills. The PPGs and RRBs hovered in the air on opposite sides of the huge room, facing each other. "Yo, Pops!" said Brick suddenly. It was as though he were talking to thin air. "This is Brick! Load the 20001 program, will you, dude?"  
Blossom figured that he had to be talking to Mojo, but she couldn't see visible means of communication. Then she noticed a small device of some kind attached on the side of Brick's head. Then she saw that the other Rowdyruff Boys had the same thing.  
And suddenly the room was....not there anymore.  
Bubbles gasped in shock, as suddenly they were suspended, not a scant feet off the floor, but hundreds of feet in the air over Townsville....the old Townsville all of them knew and recognized. The sky overhead was a wondrously familiar pastel-blue. A lemon-yellow sun shone in a sky where a few white clouds serenely drifted. The familiar downtown skyline rose before them, as real as it had ever been. Bubbles was struck with a violent urge to weep. She knew the world around wasn't real, couldn't be, hadn't been for half a century. But it was all there, all so heart-wrenchingly real. She could hear the far of f honking of cars downtown, smell the sweet fragrance of flowers and summer-sweet suburban lawns, tinged with the far-off heady exhaust fumes of conjested traffic. She could feel the wind blow cool and clean against her face.   
Before them floated their three nemesises. Bubbles looked at them, and felt terrible anger well up inside her.   
"Ready sissies?" sneered Brick. " You better be!"   
The RRBs zoomed toward the Girls, still wearing their slick shades and suits. The Girls zoomed toward them ready to deliver a terrific punch. But the Rowdyruffs socked them first, when they were still a foot from their foes. Just like before, the Girls were knocked back.   
"This isn't fair!" cried Blossom. "We can't even get near them before they wale us!"  
"Too bad!" said Butch. "New rules-all new ball game!"  
The Girls tried zooming in on them again, only to be punched square in the gut. At least, this is what it felt like. But, like before, the boys hadn't actually touched them. The Rowdyruffs were now laughing with each other uproariously. The Girls fumed and charged them again.  
This time the RRBs pressed their attack, dealing multiple blows. They kept hammering into the Girls, until Blossom and her sisters were sent crashing through the wall of a skyscraper, into someone's office.   
"Had enough, sissies?" Butch taunted.   
"We haven't even started!" shouted Buttercup.  
"Hold it!" cried Blossom. "This isn't getting us anywhere! They've got to have a weakness."  
"Should we try kissing them again?"suggested Bubbles.  
"It didn't work that time back at the bank." Said Blossom. "But there's not much else we can do."  
They dove toward the Boys again, intending to kiss them once they got near enough. But the Boys socked them again from a distance, sending them crashing through the wall of another building.   
Then something extraordinary happened. Outside the jagged hole they had made in the wall they saw the sky turn gray and turbulent once more. The wind, with its rich summer tang, was gone, replaced by the noxious fumes of the Real World. The gleaming towers outside became ancient and corroded steel and concrete hulks.   
"What the--?" started Buttercup.  
"Thought we'd just tune in to something more, uh...appropriate." laughed Brick. Evilly. "Had enough, sissies? Or shall we continue?"  
"What can we do, Blossom?" asked Buttercup. "It really looks like they have us."  
"You've got a point." Sighed Blossom. "But maybe if we get them to chase us, we can lure them into a trap."  
"Yeah! Maybe we can use this old building we're in. It's got to have lots of secret corridors and stuff."   
"All right, guys!" Blossom announced to the Rowdyruffs. "You can't beat us if you can't catch us!" They streaked back out of the room, and down a long hallway, the Rowdyruffs in hot pursuit. They zipped down four flights of ancient, crumbling staircases, and through a maze of new corridors.   
"They're still right behind us!" cried Bubbles.   
"We've got to throw them off!" cried Buttercup.   
"Let's split up!" said Blossom. "I'll keeping going straight, you and Bubbles each take the left and right corridors."  
When the hallway forked, Buttercup and bubbles veered left and right respectfully. Bubbles was still flying down the seemingly endless corridor, when she happened to glance back. Just as she expected, the RRBs had split up too, and Boomer was behind her and closing in, an evil grin on his face.   
Bubbles gulped, and kept flying straight ahead. She zoomed up another flight of steps, then down another decaying corridor, around a curve, and through another hall. Then the hall abruptly ended, and she whirled around to face her pursuer.   
Boomer slowed down, and floated in the air before her. Still wearing that evil smirk, a stopped a few feet from her and folded his arms. "Yo, Bubbles." he said. "Are you ready to die?"  
"Save it!" shouted Bubbles in fury, determined to make a brave stand. "I can take anything you throw at me!"  
"Think so?" said Boomer, behind his shades. "Then get ready for it! I've got a surprise, just for you! Actually, I was only kidding about dying. What I have in mind is much much worse! But don't blame me! I tried to get you Girls to chill with us, but you wouldn't have it!"   
"Whatever you're going to do, do it!" demanded Bubbles. "Stop starring at me like that and get it over with-" Suddenly she choked back her breath with horror. The concrete floor beneath them was starting to waver, become slightly insubstantial, reminding Bubbles that they were inside a computer program. Then, before the floor had completely resolidified, a horrible skittering sound came to her ears, like that was thousands of jointed legs clacking. And then the floor erupted with a vast, glittering wave of scurrying black insects. They came seeping out of the floor in droves, clicking their mandibles.   
Bubbles felt dizzy with horror, as a fresh wave of nausea swept over her. And as if that weren't enough, the walls on either side of her began oozing slimey white grub-like things, pale and squirmy. The walls began erupting with the pale maggots, sending them showering to the floor in a loathsome cascade to mix and mingle with the swarming insects. It was much like their first encounter with Roach-Coach Bubbles vaguely recalled through a haze of her horror. Only this was much, much worse. Then the floor gave forth new horrors-pale green spiders that crawled over the wriggling, squirming mass, and rust-colored scorpions with jointed tails, and thrashing pincers.   
Bubbles felt herself go woozy, and she felt herself swoon into a faint. She strove mightily to overcome it, know the fate that awaited her on the floor. But the mere sight of the squirming hordes, and her own perilous proximity to them, left her unable to hold out for long.   
The last sound she heard was Boomer's evil laughter, as the world and its terrors faded from her.   
And then her eyes snapped open.   
She was no longer in the hallway where Boomer had trapped her. Instead, she was in a strange room somewhere. She could hear the faint sounds of birds singing out a nearby window. And she was aware of sunlight seeping through.   
"Wh-where am I?" Bubbles murmured. She got groggily to her feet and looked around. Pure, clean sunlight was streaming in. The room was plainly furnished, with a mahahgany table, and chairs. There was a vase stuffed with flowers on the table, and a few framed pictures of seascapes on the walls. A lush yellow carpet lay under her feet, and the walls of the room were a vivid yellow as well. Bubbles couldn't help but wonder...had she died, and was this...?  
"Bubbles," said a kind, familiar voice. "Don't worry, Bubbles. You're fine. Everything is fine now."  
"What...?" Bubbles looked up, gasped in astonishment at who she saw.  
"Miss Bellum! How did you get here?"  
"I didn't." Miss Bellum answered kindly. "You see, I am simply part of the system-just like everyone else here."  
"But how-?"  
"I first found out what Mojo was up to when I was able to hack into his computer system from the Mayor's office. So I implanted this computerized duplicate of myself, so I could contact you if the need arose."  
"But....what can you do? You helped us defeat the Rowdyruffs the other time, but now we can't even get near enough to kiss them! And even if we did win....Townsville's destroyed! Mojo and his Boys have taken over. There's really nothing we can do, is there?"  
"Bubbles," said Miss Bellum kindly. "Townsville isn't destroyed. That's just what they want you to think."   
"Huh?"  
"Think about it. Remember back at the Townsville bank, when you and the Boys were fighting?"  
"I don't understand."  
"You couldn't defeat them that time either could you? Can you guess why?"  
Bubbles considered. The same thing had happened at the bank. But they hadn't been in a computer program then, so how were the Rowdyruffs able punch them from a distance? They couldn't. Unless-  
"Oh! Do you mean?"  
"That's right, Bubbles. You weren't captured by Mojo at the bank. You were kidnapped the previous night in your bed. Mojo sent his boys to bind and gag you. Then he erased all trace of memory of the incident from your brains."  
"Whoa! You mean....Townsville isn't destroyed? This...all of this-is just a computer program?"  
"That's right Bubbles. Everything you've experienced, starting when you received that emergency call on the hotline from the Mayor, has been merely part of Mojo's computer system. But remember, the Boys really do have the power to defeat you this time. Kissing won't work, as you know by now. They can even destroy you, if they want to. And if you die in the computer program, your bodies will die in real life. And if that happens, nothing will stand in the way of Mojo and his Boys."   
"Then....there's nothing we can do. It's like they've already beaten us!"  
"No it's not! Remember how they could knock you around without touching you? Remember that everything you see or touch is merely a computerized simulation. Once you realize that, they won't be able to hurt you."  
"Really?"  
"Absolutely. You will be able to do the same thing to them-and worse. Remember what I told you about little boys the first time you tangled with them, and you will realize just how far you are from defeat. And another thing, Bubbles-wake up!"  
Bubbles blinked, and the vivid yellow room and Miss Bellum were gone. She was back in the decayed hallway where Boomer had her cornered. Only Boomer was nowhere within sight. There were no bugs or squirmy things in sight either, as though none of that had happened. Which, Bubbles realized, was likely true.  
Then Bubbles started as she realized something else. She flew until she found a shattered glass window pane, and gaped at her reflection. She was wearing black shades similar to the ones the RRBs sported, and a slick black coat over her customary outfit. "Geez." Bubbles said to herself. "How'd this happen?"  
She shrugged and flew off through the maze of corridors, retracing the direction in which she had originally fled. She saw no sign of either her sisters, or their nemesises, until she faintly heard shouts coming from somewhere ahead. And she felt the entire building reverberate, as the Rowdyruffs gave their blows.   
Filled with hot rage Bubbles increased her speed in the direction of the sounds. At last, she found herself in a vast, open space, which might once have been an ancient parking garage. Her sisters were both there, having regrouped after they had split up. Facing them were all three of the Rowdyruff Boys.   
"Where's Bubbles?" Blosoom said to Buttercup "Shouldn't she have found us by now?"  
"Well, yeah, but-"  
"I don't think you really want to know, Sis" said Boomer.  
"I'm right here!" Bubbles cried as she zoomed in to join them.  
"Huh!?!" said Butch and Brick in unison. They both scowled angerly at Boomer. "Hey! I thought you said you took care of her!"  
"Chill out, dude! I did take care of her!"  
"That's not what it looks like to me, bro!"  
"Never mind, you guys!" commanded Brick. "They're all three of them here, so let's finish 'em!"  
"Amen, bro!" yelled Boomer and Butch.  
All three of the RRB launced themselves at the Girls. The Powerpuff readied themselves for the onslaught. Even if the Boys finished them, they were prepared to put up all the fight they could.   
Bubbles prepared herself. As expected, the blue Rowdyruff, Boomer, was headed directly toward her. She tried to recall everything Miss Bellum had told her. That everything around them was artificial.....was only a simulation. She focused her concentration on Boomer, as he prepared to deliver shattering punch to her face. She imagined herself socking Boomer first, felt the ease with which she could knock him clean across the garage. And in that instant she swung.   
She hadn't quite reached Boomer yet, but the blow had its desired effect. She felt her fist make contact, and Boomer went careening back across the parking aisles to smack loudly into the conrcrete, sending out a barrage of cracks. The other two Rowdyruffs were so astonished by Bubbles onslaught, that they both stopped their charge and gazed in her direction. 'What the-!?!"  
"Whoa!" said Boomer. He slowly rose off the floor, still rubbing his head. "Man, how'd she do that?"  
"You got me, bro." said Brick, confused.   
"I thought we were the ones giving the pain this time!" Butch shouted.  
"Not anymore, jerks!" cried Bubbles. "Get ready for more!"  
"Whoo!" shouted Boomer, as he noticed Bubbles new outfit. "Cool threads, Bubbles. But I can still take you!" He took off zooming straight for her.   
Bubbles charged forward, and swung wildly. But this time Boomer was able to dodge out of reach, and strike with a blow of his own. Bubbles was flung back.  
"Heheheheh! Too slow, Sis!" Boomer taunted.   
Bubbles zoomed at him again. Boomer swung back his arm, but Bubbles ducked under the blow and decked him with a sharp uppercut.   
"Owwwww!" cried Boomer as he was knocked over on his back. Not waiting for him to recover this time, Bubbles dove at him, and pressed her attack, reigning down blows on the empty air. But Boomer was visibly affected. He wailed as the blows pummeled him. Then Bubbles zipped back "Had enough?"  
"Not nearly!" snarled Boomer. He rocket up and slashed at Bubbles. This time Bubbles felt the blow and was knocked back with a sharp cry. But then she steadied herself as Boomer tried to press his attack. He hammered at her again, but this time Bubbles anticipated his every swing, and was able to block him with each swing of her own. Boomer became enraged, and kept trying to take her out, but to no avail. Finally, once he was exhausted, Bubbles belted him one square in the gut. Then she grasped his arm, and swung him over her body, and slammed him into the concrete.   
"Ohhhhhhh!" Boomer moaned. "Alright, Bubbles. I get the point. Now lay off!"  
"That's more like it!" exclaimed Bubbles pertly.  
"Hey!" exclaimed Butch. "Boomer's wimped out on us. Get up Bro! You gonna take it from that sissy?"  
"Never mind!" exclaimed Brick. "We'll finish her!" Both of them launched themselves toward Bubbles. But she anticipated what moves both of them would make. She easily dodged their fists, zooming left and right. Confused, the two Ruffs, snarled and dove their fists at her even more fiercely. But still she was able to block each one of their blows. Then she kicked out both of her legs, slamming them in the gut, and sending them both sliding across the concrete floor.   
Blossom and Buttercup had been taking the entire scene in. "Ya know, Buttercup," said Blossom. "I think I get what's going on here. How about you?"  
"What? Oh, yeah. I think maybe....if they're defeating us with they're minds, then all we have to do is-"  
Once Butch and Brick were on their feet again, and prepared to launch a new assault on the determined Bubbles, Blossom and Buttercup slammed into them. Both Boys were thrown back into the wall.  
"Whoa!" exclaimed Buttercup. "You were right! We did it! We used our minds!"  
"That's right!" cried Bubbles. "Just concentrate on whipping their butts, and we will!"  
Now it was the Girls' turn to smirk evilly. They flew straight at the three Rowdyruffs as the Boys launched themselves at them again. But this time the Girls were able to block blows and punches before they fell. But the RRBs were still using their minds as well, and as the Girls pressed their attack, they began blocking in return, and getting in some blows of their own. Soon the battle turned, and the three girls slid across the floor.   
"Ready for more?" asked Brick. Again the Girls renewed their attack, and sent the three Boys crashing through the rusted hulk of a car. The Boys sprang back up, and began reigning blows back on the Girls. As the battle wore on, it proved devastating to both sides.   
"We were winning." Panted Blossom. "But we still haven't defeated them yet!"  
"Wait a minute!" said Bubbles. "I think I know a way..." She remembered how Boomer had her cornered and had somehow caused insects and maggots to ooze out of the walls and floor. It had seemed impossible. But since the Boys had been using their minds to defeat them....then she remembered what Miss Bellum had said about what boys fear most. That hadn't made any sense either. But now....  
"I think I know a way to finish this!" she said.  
"Huh?"  
"Just watch! Hey guys!" she called to the Rowdyruffs "You guys give up yet, or what?"  
"Not nearly!" sneered Brick. The Boys were exhausted too, but they prepared themselves to launch at her.   
Bubbles shut her eyes and concentrated. She thought of flowers and rainbows, and fuzzy pink animals. She thought of stuffed bunnies, and koalas, and bright pink unicorns. She thought of sugared candies, and gorgeous butterflies, of sunshine. She opened her eyes, and yes! The concrete between her and the RRB was overflowing with the stuff! There were piles galore of fluffy stuffed animals. And a profusion of multicolored flowers had sprung up through the floor. The RRBs were surrounded by them, hemmed him, and blinking with confusion and dismay, unable even to attack. But they still weren't satisfactorily horrified. So she concentrated again, squarely on the three boys this time, taking care to whipe all thoughts of anger and violence from her mind. She thought only thoughts of affection toward them, warm, fuzzy thoughts.....  
"Hey..." said Boomer suddenly, "What gives? What's happening to us!"  
"I-ewwww, yeech!" exclaimed Butch.  
The three Boys looked down at themselves in surmounting horror. What they saw nearly made them gag with revulsion. The imprints of smacked lips began appearing all over their arms and faces. And then pimple-like growths began popping up.  
"Noo!" screamed Boomer. "She's given us cooties!!!"  
"Girl cooties!!" screamed Brick "It's a regular infestation! Nooooo!"  
The cooties kept sprouting up until all three of the Rowdyruffs were virtually covered with them.  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!" screamed Butch, Boomer, and Brick, clutching themselves. Each of the RRBs glowed his respective color. The colors grew brighter and hotter as their screams of horror intensified. They did not explode into their basic components. Instead, the three Rowdyruffs wavered for a few seconds, like bad pictures on a video sceen. Then they simply fizzled out, as though they had been nothing more than holographic projections. And then the ancient parking garage faded away into nothing. The Girls found themselves standing in the glass room in the Boys' arcade once again.  
"Whoa, what happened to them?" asked Buttercup "Are they dead, or what?"  
"Don't know." Said Blossom.   
Then Bubbles told them about her encounter with Miss Bellum, and how all they had experienced was really part of a computer program.   
"Then...then Townsville's not destroyed?" asked Blossom.  
"That's right." Answered Bubbles.   
"Well," said Blossom. "I think I know how to put things right. There's only one way to get out of here."  
"What's that?" Buttercup asked.   
"We've got to find Mojo. Or at least Mojo's representation of himself in this phony world."  
"Let's go!" said Buttercup.  
They flew out of the mammoth building and high over the ancient city of Townsville. For miles, they could see nothing but ruined buildings, and demolished skyscrapers. Then another weird edifice appeared on the horizon. And the sound of maniacal laughter came to their ears. "That's Mojo!" announced Blossom. "I'd bet on it!"  
As they flew nearer, they could make out a gigantic form on the flat top of the sprawling, pyramidal building. It looked like some incredibly gigantic spider-like thing, made of metal. It was lumbering about on the building top. Confused the Girls increased their speed as the came nearer.   
When they had reached the building. The spiderish thing swiveled about on its jointed legs to face them. The Girls drew a collective gasp at what it revealed.   
The thing was some kind of vast metal robot, a kind of huge, robotic tarantula. But the thing's head and body were composed of two giant glass domes. The smaller of the two, which formed the "head", was occupied by the grinning, maniacal face of none other than Mojo himself. His simian visage grinned horribly at the Girls. "Muahahahahahahah, Powerpuff brats! You are finished! Ruined! Defeated! As you can see, it is I, Mojo Jojo, who have finally won, which means that you have not won, and that means that I have finally defeated you! Townsville and all its citizens are finally mine. The heat from their bodies powers all my electronic gadgets of conquest, which are at my command. And with them, thanks to the citizens of Townsville, I have already conquered the world! And once I have perfected my gadgets, I shall spread my conquest to other world beyond the earth Muahahahahahah!"  
"You're not fooling us, Mojo!" cried Buttercup.  
"That's right, " said Bubbles. "We already know your secret-we know none of this is real, it's just a computer trick you're using to defeat us!"  
"Wait! No! You cannot know about that! You cannot! It is impossible for you to know about that, because only I Mojo Jojo, and my Boys know about that, and we would never have told you, so you cannot know about that!"  
"Think again, Mojo!" exclaimed Buttercup.  
They launced themselves at Mojo's face. They smashed through the glass, and began pounding Mojo's enlarged features into a pulp. Then Buttercup flew out and over the other, larger glass dome. This entire bubble was filled entirely with a throbbing, pulsing mass of pinkish brain-tissue, threaded with a network of thick scarlet veins. In this simulated reality, Mojo must have somehow increased the size of his inflated brain expotentially. Maybe with this new brain, he could control every device and weapon of war he had at his command! He probably could, Buttercup reflected, but she was about to put an end to that. She smashed her way into the glass Bubble, and then tore her way into the pulsing brain, thrashing, and punching, and blasting away with her lasors, tunneling her way deep within Mojo's brain.   
Mojo screamed in agony, and Blossom and Buttercup sprang back in alarm. Buttercup continued slashing through the wet, pulpy tissue, digging a low, wide curve in the pinkish stuff, until at last she burst out the other side in a gooey splatter of pink fluid.   
"AAAARRRRRRGH!!!!!" Mojo roared. Then the eyes rolled in his simian face, and he went confused and slack, and his tongue lolled out. "Curse you, Powerpuff Girls....." he groaned, before his eyes shut, and his vast, jointed mechanical body collapsed with a loud crash. The three Girls floated to the rooftop.  
"We did it!" cried Blossom. "We beat him! We defeated Mojo again."  
"Yeah!" said Buttercup." But now I have to get this yucky stuff off me! Bleh!"   
"Remember, Buttercup." Blossom reminded her, "We might not have defeated then this time, if it hadn't been for Bubbles."  
"Yeah, that's right!"  
"Well," said Bubbles, starting to blush.  
Suddenly, the world around them, even the roof beneath them, began to shimmer and waver, as though it were some kind of vast illusion.....which of course, it was.   
"Oh!" they all cried as the world wavered, and faded out.   
The three of them snapped awake. "Huh?" They saw that they were all strapped into cubicles with wires all connecting with some kind of metal caps on their heads. Quickly, they pulled loosed the wires, and busted out of the cubicles.   
They were in Mojo's volcanoe lair, in the main observatory. And Mojo-the real Mojo-was standing across from them operating at a computer terminal. He glared at them. "Curse you, Powerpuff Girls! Once more you have thwarted my plans! But next time, I shall come with a plan so diabolical, so evil, that even you will not be able to defeat me, which means that I, Mojo Jojo, will not be defeated!"   
"Save it, monkey breath!" shouted Blossom. The three Girls all dived toward Mojo, wicked smiles on their faces, and a heady triumph singing through each of them. Blossom kicked Mojo full in the mouth, smashing losse a few of his pointed teeth. Buttercup socked one in the eye, causing it to swell the deep purples color of his cape. And Bubbles pile drived him square in the gut.   
"OOOOOHHHHHHHH!!!" cried Mojo as he crashed to the floor. Buttercup crashed through his dome pounded her fisting his exposed brain. Then she landed in fron of him with her sisters.  
"There!" she shouted. "That's for fooling us into thinking you had us defeated and Townsville was destroyed!"  
They all glared at the crumpled Mojo for several minutes. Then the Girls looked at one another, and grinned slightly, then started to giggle.   
"Bye, Mojo!" said Bubbles finally.  
"Yeah, look forward to next time we kick your furry butt!" said Buttercup.  
They shot through the observatory ceiling and headed for home, trailing colored streaks in their wake.   
After several moments, Mojo got to his feet, and shook himself off. "Curse those Powerpuff brats." He muttered to himself. He walked to the other side of the room, across from where the Powerpuffs had been strapped him. In matching cubicles lay the three Rowdyruff Boys. All three were slowly coming awake.   
"Whoa! What happened, Pops!" Brick murmured groggily.  
"Yeah," said Butch. "You said those Girls couldn't beat us this time, but they did!"  
"They sure did!" agreed Boomer "They gave us a radical case of Girl cooties!"   
Mojo pulled off the helmets. The Boys floated out of the cubicles. "Do not despair my children. We captured them this time, and we will again! Do not fear! For next time victory shall be ours, because we shall be victorious! All you boys need is to hone up your fighting skills, so that you can defeat them next time. I have already prepared a training room for you to practice in!"  
"A training room?" Brick asked.  
"Yes! A special VR training room, where you can practice fighting holographic images of the Girls, so when you again meet up with them for real, you will be the ones to defeat them!"  
"A VR training room?" Boomer asked. "Er...no thanks, Pops!"  
"Yeah, " agreed Butch. "We've had kinds enough of that sorta thing. Dig?"  
"Right!" said Brick. "We're sticking to our Sony Playstations from now on!"   
In a flash of colored light, Boys streaked for their room.  
And so, once again, the day is saved, thanks to...the Powerpuff Girls!   
  



End file.
